VOX Box: D is for Dysfunction
Characters * Despair of the Endless * Desire of the Endless * Destiny of the Endless * Death of the Endless * Dream of the Endless Location * Garden of Forking Ways, The Dreaming * July 7th 2007, 1059 Universal Time VOX Archive * Dream: sigh Unity Kinkaid was destined to become a psionic vortex, a rare being of such psychic power to threaten the very fabric of the Dreaming. In accordance with the Axiom, i was duty-bound to end her... Years before my capture, I became aware of Unity through Destiny informing me of her nature, but I stayed my hand... not only did the Axiom prevent me from taking the life of a mortal before awakening as a Vortex, but I was also determined to let her live as full and rich of life as possible before I claimed her life, as I have done for many Vortexes of the past. So I kept my eye on her. I gave her good creams, enjoyed watching her creative imagination weave its tales as she slept, and dreaded the day to come... * Desire: yawn Is there a point in all this? Did I miss it? * Destiny: Desire, please. Allow Dream to conclude his opening statement. Brother, if would continue... * Dream: Yes... But all that was before my capture. I had made preparations for Unity's demise as I knew from past experiences Vortexes typically only pose a significant threat when they've fully matured from child to adult when the imagination and wonder of her thoughts take a backseat to insecurities and stress. Unity was a young woman at the time of my capture. She had just begun stepping out of her parent's shadow and living her own life. She was in a relationship with a man who she loved very much, despite her confidence that this affection was not returned. She even gave birth to twins: a boy and a girl. Her life was far from perfect, but for her it was enough. But then I was captured. I lost track of time and though I always feared what would become of Unity's awakening and what devastation she would bring to my Dreaming, it was never a genuine concern for I did not see its effects on the limited people I would encounter in my isolated imprisonment. When I did escape, I was surprised to find Unity still alive. I thought my siblings or servant arcane would have extinguished her life when she posed a threat to the Dreaming, but it seems her power never did come to fruition. * Despair: How fortunate. * Destiny: Sister, please- * Dream: No, it's fine, Destiny... It is fortunate for us, as residents of the Dreaming. It's fortunate for everyone else who visits this place when they dream. Yes, it is most fortunate for us, however for Unity Kinkaid it was a waking nightmare that gave her almost two decades of torture and constant suffering. It changed her fundamental being. She ceased to be. Not only did this debilitation destroy who she once was, it also took everything from her. She lost her children, she lost her job, she lost her interests... but above all that, what hurt her the most was that it was given to her by the man she loved. * Despair: I was not aware of any venereal diseases with such potency. Sounds dreadful. chuckle * Dream: This was not sexually-transmitted. This was an affliction brought upon by an Endless. Specifically, this torment was unleashed upon poor Unity by Desire, acting under the fabricated identity of Ezra Walker. * Desire: Oh please... I did nothing wrong. * Dream: The Axiom forbids this! * Desire: How many mortals have you loved, Dream? And in so doing, sentenced them to their own demise? Is what I have done any different? * Dream: You didn't love Unity! You used her! * Desire: They're the same thing, dear brother. * Dream: How can one so intrinsically connected to the very concept have such a crude understanding of love? * Desire: Love is crude. It is dirty, rotten, vile... That's what makes it so delicious. Romantics notions, airy poetry, and grand symbolic gestures are all just packaging and window dressing gilding organisms pounding their vulgar parts together to fulfill basic, biologically programmed procreational cravings. Love is using each other to gratify themselves. Marriage was just people finding a more convenient means to sexual gratification, much like people developed agriculture instead of relying on hunting and gathering to simplify their need for food. That's all it is. Basic organic drives and needs... Nothing more. * Death: Except there was more, wasn't there? * Desire: I beg your pardon? * Death: With Unity. You didn't use Unity just to get your rocks off. You had other intents with her, didn't you? * Desire: chuckle I think you're getting ahead of our brother's story. * Destiny: Yes, Desire is right. I'm not certain that our brother has yielded the table for discussion. Dream, is there anything further you wish to add to your opening statement? Perhaps a clear explanation of the actual grievance we're here to discuss. * Dream: Two nights ago, I visited Unity. She was in a care facility after having tried to take her own life years ago. Not only could she no longer dream, but now she could not feed herself either. She was a mere husk of a human, barely alive anymore. It was the first time I ever felt that I was doing a merciful act as I carried out my duty of ending a Vortex... but only then as sister came to collect Unity's soul did we notice that the Vortex entity which had attached itself to her appeared malnourished and withered. Not a threat... * Destiny: And the significance of that for those of us who are unfamiliar with these Vortexes? * Dream: The Vortex entities are a parasitic form of fae, exiled from the Fair Lands for being contaminated by the Bleed, much like the Sheeda. However, unlike the Sheeda, the Bleed corruption in these beings is so devastating that they cannot survive on their own. They require a host of very specific genetic and psychic traits. The vast majority of Vortexes die before finding a host which is why I must only perform my duty once in a lifetime. The Vortexes are not vampiric. They don't feed on their host, they merely exist inside the host. They have no specific ill intent, all that having been stripped away by the Bleed corruption. Their only wish is to survive. But their survival causes the Bleed corruption to infect its host and the host's aura and that's where they pose a problem for us. A vortex possessing the body of Unity, a healthy and psychic-rich host, should never have been withered or malnourished. Even if Unity was denied the ability to dream, the Vortex should have been thriving and fat on Unity's lifeforce... but that is when I realized the entity was not malnourished or withered... It was a hatchling. * Despair: What? * Dream: All the entities I had since collected and destroyed were matured and full of life. This one was different. This one had never been a fae and been corrupted by the Bleed, this one was born this way. Its parent had left it behind as a remnant in search of a new, better host. The parent had no parental instinct to care for this thing, as I said, the Bleed corruption had stripped them of that sort of thing. * Destiny: Interesting. So there is still a Vortex in the wild? Who is the new host? * Dream: As I previously mentioned, Vortex entities require very specific hosts. Not only do they require a certain psychic ability but also must meet strict genetic traits. As this entity had previously been using Unity as a host, it only stands to reason the new host would be similar to Unity. Remember, Unity had two children with our sibling: Drury and Rose. The male child, Drury, grew up in a foster homes and became a disturbed person in his own right. I tracked him down in Arkham Asylum, visiting him in his dreams. While I found him to be an ideal candidate for a Vortex or other otherworldly entity, I found no sign of Bleed corruption on him. So I feared that Rose must be carrying the Vortex entity inside her, however... It seems she has dropped of the face of the Earth. I have been unable to find her. * Desire: I'm not protecting the child, if that's what you think. * Dream: Rose Walker would be a grown woman now. She'd be of age to unleash hell upon the Dreaming soon. * Desire: Nevertheless, brother, I do not have her. I promise you that was not part of my plan. * Death: And what was your plan exactly? * Desire: I will gladly admit that I planned for Rose to become a Vortex, like her mother before her. But I didn't want her not to be found. On the contrary, I eagerly await the day that brother is put in a situation where he must choose which part of the Axiom he must abide by and which he must break. * Destiny: I see now. By the Axiom, Vortexes are creatures which our brother Dream has been mandated to destroy to preserve the Dreaming's integrity; but by the same measure, the Axiom forbids us all from spilling the blood of our own kin or suffer our own demise. sigh Desire, in seeking to doom Dream, I fear you now risk destroying us all. Is that your intent. * Desire: Oh, please. We all know that Dream won't not kill the Vortex... He'll destroy himself to preserve the rest of us. We know he will. * Death: Yes, that is assuming we can find her... but even then why do you want to destroy brother? * Desire: I don't know... sigh I guess I'm just hoping he'll be reborn with a expletive sense of humor. * Dream: slamming on table, silence: 10 seconds, sigh I'm sorry... I just... I... I hate you. footsteps * Despair: 7 seconds, distant eldritch crackle, pause, sigh, chuckle I love these family get-togethers... Trivia and Notes * Story continues from VOX Box: D is for Discussion. * Story continues in VOX Box: D is for Days Gone By. * Dream's comment that Drury Walker could be a host for an otherworldly entity might be a nod to him becoming the monster Charaxes. Links and References * VOX Box: D is for Dysfunction Category:VOX Box Category:Despair/Appearances Category:Desire/Appearances Category:Destiny/Appearances Category:Death/Appearances Category:Dream/Appearances Category:Endless/Appearances Category:The Dreaming/Appearances